No. 3: City ready for costly wastewater plant project

Saturday

Dec 28, 2013 at 3:55 PM

Top 10 local stories countdown continues with No. 3

The campaign

Kirksville's wastewater treatment plant, the facility that processes and discharges the city's sewage and wastewater, was under the federal microscope, with its operating permit expiring in 2011 and new, significantly more strict discharge limits coming down the pipeline.

The mandates, from the Environmental Protection Agency, required that a significant upgrade be done at the plant, to both bring it in line and, city officials touted the $18 million project would allow for expanded water capacity to support future economic development and city growth.

The vote

When it came to a vote this spring on the $18 million bond issue to pay for the upgrade, voters gave their approval by a 4:1 margin, authorizing the city to make use of low-interest loan funds from the state to begin design and construction portions.

The approval came even with the acknowledgment the project would result in increased water and sewage rates, about 10 percent increase each year for five years with steady rates to follow. The higher rates are mandated by the state for using the low-interest loan in order to bring fees in line with state utility cost indexes.

Why it matters

The facility was going to be improved, regardless of whether voters allowed the use of a bond issue and state loans. For the ballot, the issue came down to how much it was going to cost. With voters approving the bond issue, the city has moved forward with obtaining low-interest state loan funds with the goal of starting work in 2014.

If voters had downed the initial measure, the city was expected to have faced a project that would have included about $6.5 million in additional financing and interest, which would have been passed on to water and sewer customers.